ABS Expo Report 2013

kimsalls

kimsalls

Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
540
I made the drive from Houston to San Antonio this morning. Boy, the traffic in San Antonio is tame compared to Houston. I made it to the Sheraton Gunter just in time for the first seminar. I had registered online, so getting my badge and banquet ticket was quick and easy.
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The first seminar I attended was David Lisch's "Making Tongs & Stag Handle Construction". Dave went through the his development of tongs for use when making knives with stick tang construction. The fruit of his labor: the "never wrong tang tong":)
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Next he led us through his technique for attaching stag handles. Secret ingredient: superglue.
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The second seminar I attended was Kevin Cashen's "Heat Treating. He led us through a "Metallese" lesson that seemed to be well received by beginners (like me) and long time makers. For the first 70% of his talk I was thinking, "I am getting this". The last 30%; "I have a lot to learn".
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The third seminar I attended was Jay Goldberg's "Views on Knife Collecting". I enjoyed his personal recollections. We also discussed as a group what can be done to bring in the next generation collectors. I didn't make the fourth seminar. Lunch won out.

The show opened at 1:00 for those with VIP (early) registration for a one hour preview (no sales until 2:00). In retrospect I should have taken photos then. Starting at 2:00 knives started disappearing from the tables.

Steven Koster (JS) and Kevin Cashen (MS) are seated next to each other.
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Steven's quillion dagger won Best Damascus at the show. He said that it is practice knife for his Mastersmiith test knife.
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Kevin Cashen had this beautiful blade at his table.
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Thanks for the review. Hope to see more. I see Kevin has done it again with his dagger. Looking forward to see what he has this time at Blade.
 
More is coming. I'm stuck with just an iPad for the next few days, so uploading the pics is a pain and takes extra time.
 
kimsalls said:
The second seminar I attended was Kevin Cashen's "Heat Treating. He led us through a "Metallese" lesson that seemed to be well received by beginners (like me) and long time makers. For the first 70% of his talk I was thinking, "I am getting this". The last 30%; "I have a lot to learn".
Click to expand...

This describes every conversation I have had with Kevin Cashen. :)

Thanks for the report - the time and effort are much appreciated.
 
Bill Burke's (MS) laminated kitchen knives are a wonder in hand, very light and well balanced. They are also nice to look at.
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Gary House (MS) brought this beautiful blade and others. Note the wonderful artifact walrus tusk handle.
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Adam and Haley DesRosiers are both knifemakers. Adam previewed a hunter for us in another thread. Look what he is bringing home.
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Good jump start for my day. Keep em coming.
I've seen that Cashen dagger over on the KD forum. Phenomenal in every respect.

Did you notice Gary Houses neck knife? I want that!
 
Just had to share Shane Taylor wielding Mardi Mesheggian's piece, it really brings out the Italian Royal guard in a guy.

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Thank you for doing this, I know from experience it takes considerable effort.
How has traffic and sales been?
 
Adam, that picture is great! I was shooting a 1:1 macro lens and my arms weren't long enough to get that blade framed. ;). Please add any other pictures you have.

Kevin, it seems like many of the knives were gone today. I saw many more sales happening this year than I have seen in the past. The traffic seemed kind of light today. I left at noon.

It has been a pleasure to post. All of the makers were great to talk to (but not very comfortable getting their picture taken). There is so much great work at this show it seems a shame that it doesn't get much visibilty on the forum. I did not get photos from every table, and some of the pictures did not come out. I apologize to any makers who are left out. It was not because I did not like their work. I do not know why all of the makers do not post their table set up. I know they spend a lot of time laying it out.

More to come.
 
RogerP said:
This describes every conversation I have had with Kevin Cashen. :)

Thanks for the report - the time and effort are much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Kevin has forgotten more about steel and metal than most of us will ever know.
 
James Rodebaugh (MS) won the Best Folder award, but I didn't get a picture of it the first day.
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Rick Dunkerley (MS) was offering a knife he designed for a Seal team as well as a beautiful fighter. He also brought this whimsical bear claw mosaic damascus folder.
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Bill Ruple and J. W. Randall. J. W. Randall's knives follow.
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Michael Tyre
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J. F. Keeslar
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Rick Eaton brought one knife. It won Best of Show.
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Henry Torres
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Gary Rodewald. Unfortunately for Gary his plane trip from Utah to Texas ended up going through Minnesota. Fortunately for you he still had knives on the table that I could take photos of. Note the wood end cap on the second piece.
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This was a fun show. Unfortunately for me, by the time I got there Saturday, many tables were sparse. Obviously, there were still plenty of great knives and lots of fun with friends, so the trip was well worth it.

Kevin, to answer your question about sales, most of the makers I chatted with were very pleased. Their empty tables on Saturday afternoon confirmed that it was a good show for makers and buyers.

Thanks for doing this review kimsalls.
 
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